*** Financial crises often destroy the middle and lower classes. The
rich
figure out what is going on. They find ways to protect themselves.
After
all, how did they get to be rich in the first place?

On the other hand, America's middle classes have no idea what is
happening
to them. They do not understand the Fed, credit bubbles, debt, or paper
currencies. And why should they? They have public officials, and
elected
representatives, who are supposed to watch over those details for them!

But their public servants lie to them...and set them up, leaving them
unprepared for what could turn out to be one of the worst financial
catastrophes in history. Didn't Mr. Greenspan himself tell them that it
was safe to put money in mutual funds in the late '90s, because "once
or
twice in a century [comes] a phenomenon that will carry productivity
trends national and globally to a new, higher track"? And didn't this
same
bureaucrat urge them to take advantage of adjustable rate mortgages in
the
heyday of the real estate boom? And now, they are told that jobs are
plentiful and their incomes are rising. "Keep on borrowing," is the
sotto
voce message.

Mr. Bush thinks he should get more credit for creating so many jobs and
so
much prosperity. He is puzzled by why Americans are not more grateful.
Here, we rush to explain:

Jobs are plentiful, that much is true. But they are jobs that don't pay
very well. And while average incomes are going up, incomes for most
people
are not. In fact, there are more and more people earning less and less.
Average wages are rising, because pay levels at the top are soaring.
Goldman Sachs employees, for one, have never had it so good. But for
most
people, wages are going down. Weekly wages fell 0.7% last month.
They're
down 0.2% for the year. Half the months from '01 through '04 saw no
wage
gains. And for 90% of workers, those earning less than $184,800 per
year,
median incomes fell 0.5% during the period '01-'04.

These are the same people who don't pay cash for their houses, who
depend
on jobs for their livings, and who, especially lower down the income
ladder, have no savings and owe large amounts on small houses, which
they
service out of small incomes. Now, their ARMs are being reset higher,
even
as their house values and incomes drift lower.

The feds spared the nation a serious correction in 2001. But they did
it
at the expense of America's working classes, who were lured deep into
debt
in order to keep spending. Now that rates are rising, they find it
impossible to continue. And they are left in a position you might wish
upon your enemies, but not your friends. They are not only relatively
poorer than they were - compared to the rich in America as well as the
poor in Asia, whose incomes have been racing ahead - they are poorer in
absolute terms, too. Their net assets are few. Their debts are many.
And
their incomes are lower than they were five years ago.

When middle and lower classes finally figure out what has happened to
them, they are not going to be very happy about it.

Back to Bill Bonner...

*** U.S. forces proudly displayed the photo of a dead man yesterday.
Bombing a house to kill the man, reports said, U.S. airmen also killed
five other people - including a child. What the child did to deserve
the
death sentence was never addressed.

But this is war. And in a war, innocent people die as well as the
guilty,
especially when it is a war against nobody-in-particular.

What are we fighting for? We turn to the Commander-in-Chief for
elucidation:

'This is only the beginning. The message has spread from Damascus to
Tehran that the future belongs to freedom, and we will not rest until
the
promise of liberty reaches every people in every nation."

*** We walked home from work yesterday. Our course took us by many of
London's great monuments. Every few paces we were reminded of the
greatness of the empire. There was Nelson at Trafalgar, and Wellington
at
Waterloo. And there was Apsley House, given to the man who defeated
Napoleon by a grateful nation. And there in front of Buckingham Palace
itself, a large fountain commemorates the empire's victory over nature
and
economy, too...with statues showing her people bringing industry,
commerce
and agriculture under control. And then, at the end of the park are
pillars recording how the British Empire ruled not merely the waves,
but
the continents: Asia...Africa...North America.

Ah yes, what a great time to be white and English. When God was still
in
his heaven. When Queen Victoria was on her throne. When Brittania ruled
the world!

Passing by St. James Park, we caught a glimpse of the marshal splendor
of
it. There were horse guards, a band, and what looked like a whole
regiment
dressed in bright scarlet uniforms. And another decked out with gold
filigree. Exactly what the occasion was, we didn't notice, but we saw
that
it cost seven pounds for a seat in the bleachers.

As we walked through Knightsbridge, we saw more of the residue of
empire...or perhaps the marks of the new era of globalization. There
were
restaurants of every conceivable variety, from Chinese to Argentine.
And
on the streets, a Babel of languages. In the space of two blocks, we
heard
German, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, French, and a variety of African and
Indian languages we couldn't identify.

"The wogs start at Calais," the British used to say. But now the wogs
begin at Charing Cross - and they're taking over the city. Everywhere
you
look there are foreigners (ourselves included!). Forty percent of the
property in central London sold last year was bought by foreigners. And
last week's news reported that 45% of the City (equivalent to Wall
Street
in New York) is now owned by foreigners. Now, rich Persians sit while
Englishmen shine their shoes. Rich Indians drive around in new
Lamborghinis sold to them by middle-class Brits. Rich Russians rent
storefronts to English real estate agents, who sell their best
properties
to foreigners. That is how it goes, isn't it? You rule the
barbarians...until the barbarians rule you. The flies conquer the
flypaper.

Date: June 17, 2006. Time: 11:00 a.m. Place: The medical clinic of Dr. Andrew Q. Wu. I would like to thank the doctor for allowing me to run amuck in his establishment with my digital camera. His office is located right across the street from the offices of Apple Computer in Cupertino, California. Address: 20600 Mariani Ave.


Ancient techniques meets modern technology. This computer program maps out meridian points of the body. Later on, I witnessed another patient who was in such ill health that the unit was unable to take readings from the patient's body. There was no electrical current or "chi" energy to get a reading from.







The office has a good supply of sterile acupuncture needles.


Several perforations are made in the surface of the skin with a sharp needle. The most painful part of the entire process. Ouch.

The vacume process in action. Air is sucked out of the glass bell. This causes the bad blood to be drawn out of the body.


The tools of the trade.


What you are looking at is toxic blood that must be removed from the body. Please note the color of said blood. No amount of exercise or the ingesting of medicines or herbal remedies is going to do what this process does. Please do not attempt to do this in the privacy of your home. Leave this to the professionals.

Note the doctor's assistant on the right edge of the photo.

The doctor removes the glass and wipes away the blood with a paper towel.



The circular red marks are not permanent. They disappear in due time.

June 16, 2006. Location: Hanford Public Library. Time: 8:09 a.m. The boys from Hanford Glass have arrived on site. The scaffold is up. Two windows will be replaced. Each pane of glass weights in at 350 pounds. Keep in mind that when dealing with a large sheet of glass that there is nothing to hold on to. Gloves are definitely required when touching the edge of the glass. It will take roughly three hours to install one window. Please keep in mind that this is mid-June in the central valley. The outside temperature is in the high 80s.

Up goes the first glass pane on the north side of the library. The glass is lifted into place by six men with suction cup handles.


The scaffolding goes up on the south side of the library.




Meanwhile, the painters are continuing their work on the outside of the building.




The old glass is removed.


The glass gets closer to its final destination.



Getting the glass out of the wood crate.






Around 3:10 p.m. The second and last pane is installed. I was told that the second pane was harder to intall than the first simply because the men were tired out from dealing with the first window.

The June 2006 display at the Hanford Branch of the Kings County Public Library.